Thursday, November 1, 2018

PM Modi Will Go To Jail If Rafale Probe Begins: Rahul Gandhi

PM Modi Will Go To Jail If Rafale Probe Begins: Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi: I'm not saying this, it's a former French President who has exposed the Rafale deal. PM Modi took the decision unilaterally and handed the Rs 30,000 cr deal to Anil Ambani. I believe an inquiry is about to begin in France. It's a matter of time before PM Modi goes to jail

Supreme Court direction on Rafale has sought to ‘pierce the veil of secrecy’ says the party’s chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala.

Welcoming the Supreme Court direction to the government to reveal price details of the 36 Rafale fighter jets that India is buying from France, the Congress said on Wednesday that the court has sought to “pierce the veil of secrecy” that the Narendra Modi government was hiding behind.

A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi asked for the pricing details in a sealed cover within 10 days, but agreed that “strategic and confidential” information need not be disclosed.

“The Modi government’s boat of corruption will no longer sail because the Supreme Court wants to know the truth of Rafale. The corruption-loaded BJP government can no longer remain investigation-free, the accused can no longer run away from a JPC (joint parliamentary committee),” Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told reporters.

Alleged Irregularities

The Congress party has been alleging massive irregularities in the Rafale deal, saying that the government was procuring each aircraft at a cost of over ₹1,670 crore as against the ₹526 crore finalised by the UPA government when it was negotiating a deal for procurement of 126 Rafale jets.

Addressing a press conference, former Union Minister Manish Tewari pointed out that the Court had made some critical observations. He said that the government has been “repeatedly trying to hide behind a cloak of secrecy”, but the SC has sought to put an end to this.

The Congress has also been targeting the government over the selection of Reliance Defence as an offset partner for Dassault over Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.

“We would like to ask the BJP-led NDA government, why are you running scared, what are you trying to hide, why can’t you make pricing details public,” Mr. Tewari said. The government has refused to submit to a probe by a JPC claiming that such an investigation will be reduced to a political tamasha.